My First PCT Miles
Day 1: 11.4 Miles (18.3km)
Walking up to the Southern Terminus felt so familiar. It’s like I was watching another documentary on the big screen… except this one is about my story. It is a surreal experience stepping foot onto a trail that you have planned for so long to get to. I’d be lying if I said today wasn’t a hard day. Not necessarily physically (though my feet may say otherwise), but more mentally. I felt a great sense of overwhelm stepping foot into the unknown. And on top of it all, i’m on my own. My first few miles came relatively easy, something I know won’t last forever.
The heat in the Southern California Desert is no joke. It was a hot day (that is, until it decided to rain). And I know, it’s only March. It will get hotter. We just don’t get this kind of heat on Vancouver Island.
It feels as if you are making progress, just to look at the map and find out that you have moved 0.5 of a mile… what’s up with miles being so long?! But, I did make it over 18km today. So who cares what the tiny mile number is.
The first day on trail is filled with hikers. Everyone who started from the Southern Terminus this morning were in one big moving mass. I passed and got passed by the same people all day, including some border patrol officers who were out for a stroll. The thru-hiking community is an unbelievably welcoming group of people. I can already see the beginning of trail families forming… i’m still yet to find mine.
The deserts rolling hills go on forever, the entire landscape is green with huge rock formations. Then you look down at your feet and notice all the lizards sunning themselves in the middle of the trail. I even got my first look at a Rattlesnake. It didn’t stick around for too long (which I wasn’t upset about). I had just finished being told that it still may be too early to see snakes and then sure enough, within 5 miles there is one in the middle of the trail.
All of this still feels like a dream that I’m trying my best to remember every part of. As time goes on things will only get easier. But for now, it’s the magic of the new things that is keeping me going. Only 2,650 miles until Canada…